Osburn 2400 Woodstove - working questions

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Spark-- yes, I think so. Though this burn is odd... been full flame for 90 minutes no air. Now, the pipe has dropped 50 degrees, stove top is still 500 -- nice dancing flame up top that looks like it touched down on the wood a little but usually floats above the wood.
 
HIGH TEMPS

Ok, now the opposite.

I have continual firing in all the Tubes . Top is basically a wave of flame.
The Stovetop (in the front corner) is 650 Degree pretty steady.

**** Thermostat is about 6-7 inch in front of the Flue and to the left side (about 4-5 inches away from center) trying to keep away from main flame area (to have more average temp)

Had a bed of coal, raked it forward. Added a piece E-W in the back, covered a bit with coal.
Put 4 small splits E-W.
Put some small thin kindling in the 2 sides N-S to fill it, and between the wood where it allowed.
Put about 5 medium splits on top N-S stacked on the edges of the sides to get more in.
Again stuck thin small kindling in the gaps, on top where it didn't fill and a few out front (E-W) to make sure the front burned first and fast.

Had the Air opened Full.
Kept door cracked about 1 inch
Flame a minute in.
A Lot of flame pretty quick.
About 5 minutes in I closed the door and all the flame kept going
I did notice fizzing at the ends of some wood, and one piece dripped (clearly not completely dry)
Kept fire like this until the Flue reached about 325.
About 10 minutes in stove top was 700 so I cut the Air 1/2
Flame kept going - Flue stayed around 300
5 minutes later cut it to about 25%
Flame cut back a little but strong. Stove top about 550-600
5 minutes later cut Air off.
About 20 minutes in the flame started to leave the wood, but the Flame continued to Torch up top. Good gas burning.
About 25-30 minutes in the flame stopped. Would not come back. Waited to see if the box heat would keep it going, but the stove top dropped about 25 degrees. So...
I opened the door and cracked the Air open 25% and flame filled up again. Closed the door.
Within short time the flame filled everything and stovetop was back up to 650.
I closed the air off again.
Flame has stayed and so has the high stovetop temp.

Stove now 675. Wood has burned in half in 2 hours.
I forgot to mention the top N-S loads are about 18 inch long and come out to the Baffle edge.
The last time I did that I got a lot of flame and heat --- but many in here say N-S is Best, and gives the longer burn....


?????

At first the top of the wood went black.
When I had to open the air again after going out, then the top of the wood burned and glowed red.

I'm thinking at first the high heat burned out the moisture... after the moisture was gone, for some reason it really burned up the wood.
I don't believe I have any leak.
I don't think the draw is too strong on the chimney. I mean it doesn't sound like it's roaring.
The Flue temp seemed to stay around 300-325 using a magnetic temp on Double Walled Pipe.

Anyone ????
 
Your stove pipe surface temp is not going to be very high as your using double wall stuff. You might get you a probe type temp gauge and drill a small hole in the double wall to get a better reading.
 
"All with the air off"
So what's up with that, you keep stating that all the time, sounds like you think you have to run the stove that way.
 
The last time I did that I got a lot of flame and heat—- but many in here say N-S is Best, and gives the longer burn….
East _West should give you the longest burns providing the stoves lower air intake is at the front by your glass. North - South provides for an easier path for air between the wood, allowing for faster, hotter burns.
You really should have a probe themometer on double wall pipe to get useful readings. Mag thermometers are too far removed from the actual inside temps.
 
Hey. Yes, Book says so, and so do most looking for long overnight burns.
The point is the Temp is THAT HIGH even with the air off.
If the air was opened I'd have even more flame.
I'm trying to explain there is no high amount of air intake.
 
Everything your going thru its your wood. Its too much moisture. Your having too much trouble getting the heat up till your wood burns enough to boil out the moisture then the stove takes off for you but then there is not much left of your wood for the long burn time.

Go to the gas stations or farm store , I even seen some at walmart here and buy you some kiln dry camp wood. It will cost you but you can do a test load with it as its real dry stuff.

Or try and hand pick you some of your driest stuff.

Like Da' said split all your wood smaller. Sit your next load of wood that you split one more time next to the stove , the heat will dry it out some.
 
Thanks
I did select smaller splits and loaded the heck out of it.
Stuffed what I thought was dry thin kindling around it (that was a suggestion to allow a faster start up and heat the chimney so I would not have to leave the air opened so long to ighnite the main wood).

I too thought, ok, there is so much heat to burn out the moisture that it then ATTACKS the dry wood.
BUT......... when I first cut off the air, the flame went completely out and would not come back on it's own, the temp dropped 50 degree.
It's after I opened the air 25% for only a few minutes that the flame came back strong so I turned off the air, but it never stopped.

Only now the temp finally dropped 50 (600) after almost 3 hours.
 
Jimmy,

I am not sure how your putting kindling in your stove. Sounds like your filling gaps with it.

An important part of raking your coals forward and putting a pile of kindling on the front row close to the door in front of the dog house air inlet , is that you got a big load of wood in the back of the stove but whats going to happen is that the pile of kindling in front of that dog house air and on the hot coals is going to catch quick burn hot and build heat in the stove so as you got your main fire in the front of the stove (the kindling) and on the tops of the wood in the back. The tops of the wood close to the secondaries will catch as the heat builds. What your hoping for is a front to back burn. When your wood is too wet your burning up all your big stuff trying to get the heat built up and the wood dried out. Your doing this by cracking the door open and flushing the heat up the flue. Then it takes off but by that time you got very little left of your big wood for a long burn time.

Looking at it from the other way if you have very dry wood it burns hot with the door shut and burns hot as your close down the air intake. You actually build heat faster by closing the air down but only if you have very dry wood like 15% or less as dry wood fires up quickly and will burn with less air. What you get then is less cool air entering into the stove by shutting down the air intake. Thats whats so wild about these stoves if you have really dry wood is they build heat better as you close the air down but not so if the wood is wet. Thats where the kindling comes into play is it will burn hot and fast as you close the air down to build the heat.

So with the kindling you have something small and dry that will burn with the door shut and will burn as you slowly close the air down in increments. With big wood you have to keep the air wide open and most times you have to crack the door letting in huge amounts of air to keep it burning but the big gotcha is your not building heat up in the stove , your flushing it up the flue. Its all about building heat. Moisture kills the heat. Kindling will help compensate for slightly moist wood but wont over come really wet wood.

If your wood has a little too much moisture you can open the door and add some more kindling after the first batch burns down.

Check this link out for pics of how its done:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/88397/

Hope this helps.
 
Thank you my friend.

Your link is almost what I did, and I too got FAST start up.

I think you believe I left the door and air open a long time and the wood took a long time to burn.
Nope.

What I was saying was it started immediately, like you. I mean, the door was closed after maybe 2-3 minutes. The air was opened maybe 30-45 minutes including throttle back times.
When the air was turned off, yes the fire went out, BUT 1 minute with the door cracked and 2-3 minutes with door open it was engulfed in flame and turned off immediately, but the flame never stopped.

See ?

The differences from you:

1) I dont have square wood. I loaded the back wood on fairly bare back floor like you E-W, but only added 2-3 more small pieces in front of it to prop up my second criss-cross (N-S) load on top.
2) I then loaded my top load all North-South. AND then put the KINDLING East-West in the very front, basically under the lip of the N-S wood that was sticking out far (beyond the top baffle). Also put sticks of kindling in the sides of the load N-S and in any gaps of the N-S load. (Same thinking, cause as much fast hot wood to fire up the chamber and warm the chimney to create draft without using the big wood to do it.)

See ?

3) I do not have a Flue Damper. Only the air level in the stove (front intake pipe in the bottom of the box near the center doorway.

Do you recommend a Flue Damper (does anyone else use this?)
We used to on the old stoves like 30 years ago.

QUESTION:
I get the big flame in your photos to get it started. I get the tubes firing.
BUT.... after it's cruising, say 1-1.5 hour in, what should your fire look like? Should the wood be simmering, should there be no flame noticeable , tubes firing?
 
jimmyb7 said:
QUESTION:
I get the big flame in your photos to get it started. I get the tubes firing.
BUT.... after it's cruising, say 1-1.5 hour in, what should your fire look like? Should the wood be simmering, should there be no flame noticeable , tubes firing?
[/b]

It depends on the load. Each load is a little different-burns, looks different. Sounds like you're getting the hang of it. Don't be afraid of the high temps you had before. My insert likes to run hot. I usually cruise at 700 or so. Sometimes higher. The manual says to keep it under 840.

Also I think this was said, but when I shut down the draft the firebox increases in temp. When I open the draft the heat shoots up the chimney. So after I shut it down it increases in temperature and finds a temp that it likes and cruises there for a while.

Another note: On reloads I usually leave the door open for a few minutes (depends on how cold the stove is and the outside temps). From the time I load on a bed of coals to the time I finally shut it down all the way it's probably like a half hour time lapse. I close it down in increments. Hope that helps. The truth is each burn is a little different. That's why we say it's an art not a science.
 
Merged this with the first thread.
 
Here is a pic from Fyrwoodguy's Saw shop.

See by the stove how he is drying wood.
 

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You should be able to get the heat up and air shut back down in 20 to 30 minutes. 30 to 45 minutes I say maybe due to your wood moisture level being a bit high. Especially if you saw moisture coming out the ends and crackling of the wood, I think you mentioned in a previous post.

Sounds like your getting the idea and just need more time to play around with it now.

Your question on what does the flames look like 1.5 hours into a burn. Its all variable in that depends on how long you burnt it wide open and how much of your wood is left. But if you did it correctly you should still have flames and some secondaries burning, as not all the tubes have to be firing.

Going back to having really dry wood, I have noticed the guys on here having the best luck and stove performance have at least 2 years Cut Split Stacked (CSS) wood that seems to be 15% or less moisture. This allows th stove to catch on hot coals heat up fast and get shut down fast before you burn up all your wood.

Question is How much of your load did you burn up before you got it shut down to a low burn setting, plus that really good quality really dry wood like a white oak let the stove quickly get up to operating temps and it also let you shut the air down fully to burn at a very slow rate. You cant do that with crappy wood or crappy wood has too much moisture in it. Its was amazing how hot the stove got the first time I loaded mine fully with a load of dry white oak.
 
Hey-
Loaded it all East-West at 430AM, got about 6 pieces in without hitting the tubes (18 inch long and about 6 in split)
It went til 10AM with a bed of coal and a stove top temp of 300. Little cool, but not bad as everything is frozen outside. 5.5 hours. Was expecting 8 8(
I should be able to get an hour per piece of wood out of it.
Just keep playing I guess.

Oh, Hunt.... the wood is barely touched/burnt up when the air is fully shut down. That's the kicker I'm trying to say -- I am not loosing my wood trying to get a fire established. I've been getting the stove shut down in 15-25 minutes now with a rolling flame up top and the wood is only surface crispy on top, on the bottom the wood has started to crack a little with some red glow on the edges.

That's why I'm surprised the fast burn time, as I'm not using a lot to start it, and there is more moisture in my wood.

Was hoping to sleep through the night tonight, but it's a -7C night coming, ahhhhh 8)



EXAMPLE: This morning -
*solid bed of coal up to the door opening. 300 stovetop
*opened the air up
*raked up the coals to get the going a bit and make a tunnel away from the front air intake
*put a big split in the back E-W
*put 4 splits E-W in front and where I could on top (without hitting the tubes) up to the door entrance (that's 16 inch deep without going over the lip)
*Cracked the door just to get a fire fast. Within 2 minutes everything has fire.
*Close door
*Really burning up top and temp rising fast.
*Cut air in 1/2...still solid. Few minutes later
*Cut to 25%
*About 15 minutes in it's 400 stovetop and I shut the air off.
*In a couple minutes the flame drops out.
*I Open the air 1/2 and crack the door.
*Immediately the whole thing catches fire again. Close the door immediately
*Wait a minute and cut back to 25% again. Holding
*3-5 minutes and the air is turned off
*Been Cruising with Full Blanket of Flame up Top and in Front with Stovetop temp of 600 since (it's about 25 minutes later)
*Wood is starting to get a little ashy & black on the belly and edges.

So.... she lights up fast, tends to die, and after 2 minutes of giving a little air BOOM, she's running, and even with Air Off, the flame rolls and the trend is to keep doing that for like 2 hours. This is why there's no wood left after 3 hours, rather a solid heap of white crusted coal glowing red in the middle.
 
Hi Jimmy, I think you're overthinking the whole thing. Here are some steps to get you on the right track:

1) Get yourself a probe thermometer and install it about 18" above the stove.

2) Go to your dealer and ask him to get you a moisture meter. (Osburn makes one) or go to Canadian Tire, they stock one. Dont measure your moisture at the end of the split but take readings in the middle.

3) Make sure your splits are no bigger than 6" diameter.

4) What the book says is under ideal conditions (proper venting, wood moisture, draft etc...) your burn style might be different with those variables.


A new stove is like a new BBQ Grill, it takes a while to learn its 'personality' and what works best under your conditions. Give yourself a couple of week to experiment and you'll eventually hit the 'sweet spot' as to what works best for you and your wood/setup.

All the best
 
FyreBug said:
Hi Jimmy, I think you're overthinking the whole thing. Here are some steps to get you on the right track:

1) Get yourself a probe thermometer and install it about 18" above the stove.

2) Go to your dealer and ask him to get you a moisture meter. (Osburn makes one) or go to Canadian Tire, they stock one. Dont measure your moisture at the end of the split but take readings in the middle.

3) Make sure your splits are no bigger than 6" diameter.

4) What the book says is under ideal conditions (proper venting, wood moisture, draft etc...) your burn style might be different with those variables.


A new stove is like a new BBQ Grill, it takes a while to learn its 'personality' and what works best under your conditions. Give yourself a couple of week to experiment and you'll eventually hit the 'sweet spot' as to what works best for you and your wood/setup.

All the best

I agree, give it time. wood quality, loading timing and amount all take time to experiment with. With the size of the space you want to heat and the stove you have, you have a bit of room for error without freezing. Good Luck.
 
Jimmy sounds like your almost there with this. Everything gets real simple with really dry wood, just remember that.

Some adjustment to your technique, dont start turning air down till stove top is 500 . Then adjust it down 25%. Then it takes longer than 1 minute to let the stove settle out from that adjustment, so let it stay there for 4 to 5 minutes then adjust it down another 25% to half way. Let the stove settle out at that air setting for 4 or 5 minutes. Then adjust it down 25% more so as the stove will be open 25%. Then leave it at 25% and see how long it lasts as if you get it shut down in 20 to 25 minutes with a good load of wood you should be doing ok. Now dont be tempted to close the air all the way as from your experiences that seems to choke it too much.
 
I think Jimmy shoulda got a 2300 instead ;) Just teasing ya.

Don't overthink it Jimmy. It's my 3rd year with my stove and I feel as though I have JUSt finally got the hang of it. I load mine and get a decent flame roading for 2-3 hours and then it's large coals for the rest of the fire and after 8-10 hours I have coals left to reload. It will take time to determine your stove's personality with it's setup and your wood.

You mentioned that your wood hisses, that's not a good sign. Try drying some around your stove while it is going (don't lean it against, keep it 1 foot away).

Keep us posted

Andrew
 
The only thing I can add to this is really load it up, don't be afraid to have the wood right up to the burn tubes. Last night I put a small load in but I packed it tight. I had the small splits on the bottom and the large splits on top. One of them was right up against the baffle blocking the burn tube. Within 20 minuets holes where the burn tubes have them burned through that piece and the secondaries fired right up.

Perhaps having wood that is not super dry is adding to your difficulties. In my old stove I burned some wood from a tree that had not been standing dead long enough. I do remember seeing water foam out of the ends of the wood and it did not burn very hot or long. Perhaps you could get some pallets and burn them along with your wood to help it dry out faster. If you do experiment with pallet wood start off with a little at a time. It will burn fast and can get super hot if you have too much loaded in there.
 
Jimmy,

How are things working out for you?
 
DaFattKidd said:
Jimmy,

How are things working out for you?


I was really enjoying this thread....Because as Da' know s I'm looking at an Osburn next year....Anybody heard from Jimmy?
 
I pm'd him last week. He seems to be getting the hang of it. He's had mixed results. Sounds like the wood is mostly the culprit but he's working through it.
 
Huntindog1 said:
Your stove pipe surface temp is not going to be very high as your using double wall stuff. You might get you a probe type temp gauge and drill a small hole in the double wall to get a better reading.

x2 on that. one tip - when you clean the chimney, don't forget to pull out the temp probe (oops....$15 down the tubes - duh...)

FWIW - according to the flue probe, my Osburn 2200 goes from zero to 800+ in no time with good starter load of hardwood and softwood kindling mixed and a few small maple splits. One minute with the door open just a crack, the stove is almost rocking - then another 10 - 15 minutes with the door closed and air open (still rocking) , then I knock it down just a bit, load in some medium sized chunks of maple, close the door, and and start to slide the air back a bit at a time to get to a comfort zone. After that it's coals and big splits. A bit of playing around, but I actually enjoy it. My technique might be a bit different - dunno - but IMHO on top of all the great advice here, it's all in the wood and getting to know the sweet spots in the stove and the entire setup top to bottom. For example, with this stove, and a straight run up (@5 ' of double wall, then @ 12' of insulated chimney) if I crack the door just to the point where the ball on the door latch handle just touches the metal catch, the stove goes nuts. Open the door up even more - not so much action - it almost seems counter intuitive - but I figure it wants just the right amount of air. It took a while to get used to it all but now that I'm kinda in the groove, I love it.

Another thought as a someone posted recently about milled h/w blocks. I also recall these were really neat for stacking a half dozen or so near the stove overnight on occasion to help dry them out a bit for the next day - just an afterthought.

The secondary air tubes in this stove look like fiery waterfalls. It's a beautiful thing. No doubt the 2400 is at least as nice. I sure wouldn't mind having that stove either.
 
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